TED CRUZ: City of Houston has no business asking pastors for sermons

Published 6:36 am, Friday, October 17, 2014

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, today released the following statement responding to the city of Houston’s recent subpoena requiring pastors to submit sermons:

“I'm proud to stand with the pastors. Religious liberty is the very first protection in the Bill of Rights, the foundation of all our liberties. The City of Houston’s subpoenas demanding that pastors provide the government with copies of their sermons is both shocking and shameful. For far too long, the federal government has led an assault against religious liberty, and now, sadly, my hometown of Houston is joining the fight. This is wrong. It's unbefitting of Texans, and it's un-American. The government has no business asking pastors to turn over their sermons. These subpoenas are a grotesque abuse of power, and the officials who approved them should be held accountable by the people. The Mayor should be ashamed. And we should all be proud to stand up and defend the pastors who are resisting these blatant attempts to suppress their First Amendment rights."